Fewer convicted criminals were executed in the United States in 2013, the Death Penalty Information Center said Thursday according to dpa. There were 39 executions across the country this year, four fewer than in 2012, the watchdog said. It was only the second time in 19years the US had seen fewer than 40 executions. One reason for the decline is a controversy over the use of lethal injection as a method of execution. Questions have been raised over whether it violates a constitutional ban on cruel and unusual punishment. In addition, many drugs used in lethal injections are manufactured in Europe, where opposition to the death penalty has resulted in a ban on exporting drugs for executions, the centre said. Some states in which the death penalty is legal have sought to acquire the chemicals needed for executions from other sources. The executions this year were carried out in nine of the 50 US states. Many other states have the death penalty, but not all carryout executions.
